Supporting stand for flatirons



oct. 26, 1948. C, ,5A-WS, 2,452,439

SUPPORTING ,STAND FOR FLAT IRONS Filed April 25, 1945 s sheets-sheet 1 Oct. 26, 1948. H. c. DAVIS 2,452,439 l SUPPORTING STAND FOR FLAT IRoNs Filed April 23,v 1945 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 /NVENTO 2 Oct. 26, 1948. H. c. DAvls SUPPORTING STAND FOR'FLAT IRONS 3 Sheets-Sheet 3 Filed April 23, 1945 Patented @et 26, 1948 `NlfrD le een@ s claims. (cl. selva) This invention relates to Ahand irons of the 'kind which embody means to provide a stand vfor supporting the iron when outof use with its hot under face clear of said surface.

In irons of the above type as hitherto proposed the supporting means are lifted to permit the iron to be used by means which require for their operation pressure of the hand, finger orthumb, which pressure has to be maintained during 'ironing to prevent the supporting means from falling and trailing across the work. With such irons a conscious effort is required 0n the part of `the operator to maintain thesupport in the raised position but as is well known the gripping o f the iron handle during ironing is performed as unconscious act and in certain instances is effected without downward pressure on the handle of the iron, in which case trailing of the supports across the work with consequential marl;- ing of or damage to the work will occur.

The object of the present invention is to avoid the above disadvantage. n v

Broadly the present invention consists of a hand iron of the type specified `having means which operates automatically when the support- 4ingmeans is raised to hold the same in said raised position during ironing. l

Preferably the holding means ofthe present linvention operates by Y friction and release is effected automatically bythe Weight of the iron as it is lifted by the operator.

Aclear of the underface of the iron by means associated with the handle of the iron. Y, For example the handle may consistof two portions one of which is pivoted and connected by its free lend to the supporting arms which are then raised by the operator squeezing the handle soasfto turn the pivoted portion about its pivot. lAlternatively the lifting of the support may be performed by the koperator pressing his thumb o r viinger against a button arranged in suitable juxta'posin tion to the handle.

In a preferred embodiment of the present invention the supporting arms are lifted by a squeezing action on the part of the` operator on a pivoted section ofthe handle disposed above a fixed handle and they are'held in the vraised or lifted position by thefrictional engagement of a resilient blade member which is fixedly anchored to a suitable stationary part of the iron anda forced towards the fixed part of the handle "and -Inworder that the invention may be vunderstood1and carried into effect `several prac- 2 this serves to turn the supporting arms about theirjpivotsto the raised position. l b

The frictional engagement betweenthe protuberance andthe spring blade is sufcient to `hold the supporting` arms in the raised position butwhen the iron is lifted bythe pivoted section of the ,handle the weight of the iron acts to displace the movablemember connected to the handle by overcoming the frictional -hold ofv the spring blade, and forcibly turn thesupporting arms into the lowered or supporting position. v

In a further Iembodiment where the supporting arms are turned through a vertical connecting rod attached to the handle and acrank on the transverse pivot of the armsk the same may be heldin both the raised and lowered positions by a blade spring pressing on the crank.

In one such arrangement the vertical connecting rod is forked at its lower end and engages opposite sides of a central crank the intermediate portion of ywhich is engaged by the spring.

In a further embodiment the transverse pivot rod of oneof thepairs of supporting arms is provideduwith a ratchet or other toothed wheel or segment, the teeth or slots in which are enlgageable by ja spring pawl to "holdthe supporting arms in both the loweredl and raised positions. The arms are freed by withdrawingthe pawl out of engagement withthe ratchet or other device by means operated either from thehandle or a separatelever'or button arranged suitably adjacent to it.

jIn astill further embodiment the supporting `arms may be jretained in the raised -position'by means of a light coil spring which is anchored at one end to aiiixed part of the iron and at its free end is attachedto the aforesaid crank,

To prevent the arms from being llaterally dis lplaced so as to foul the sole plate of the iron the connecting rod which vengages the crank is guided orsupported along one orboth sides such asbydisposing the samewithin a groove or slot in the pressure plate. f f f clearly ticalexamples lwill now be described by'aid of the accompanying `drawings in which:

.aecerdiriagm a.. preferred embodiment 0f the present invention and Fig. 2`is a top plan view of the samewithvthe cover plate removed.

Figsmand 4 ,are'lsirnilar views of a further ernbodimentin whichvthe frictional` hold for u L* ntaining thensupporting Varms in ythe raised me tiende @denied .,bIyf. bladesprins pressing v uponma craiil; in the transverse pivot ofthe supporting mme.. n

Fig. .5 is a detail View illustrating the of 'mail .Serine megas. 91 hldng .the Sup- 'porting varms lin the raised position. Fig. 6 is also a detail view showing one manner of using a spring-presed ball detent as the holding means I is the pressure plate, 2 the sole plate, 3 the supporting legs, 4 the stirrup or U-shaped handle support, 5 the movable portion of the handle and E the xed portion thereof. Referring now particularly to the iron illustrated in Figs. 1 and 2 the movable portion 5 of the handle is pivoted at its forward end to the front upright 'l of the stirrup II as at 8 so that its near end is free to move up and down in relation to the back upright of the stirrup which acts as a support for the fixed handle portion 6 and engages in a recess I in the underside of the `handle portion 5, such recess being substantially the same width as the upright so that the handle is held by it against lateral displacement. vBy enclosing with his hand both the movable and fixed portions of the handle and applying a squeezing action the operator is enabled to depress the rear end of the handle portion and this motion is utilised to raise the supporting legs 3. The means for this purpose which are illustrated in the drawings comprise a connecting member il which at its upper end is pivoted as at I2 to the rear end of the movable handle portion 5 within the recess I0 and at its lower end is similarly at tached to one crank portion I3 and a crank shaft I4. This crank shaft is pivotally mounted by its ends within a recess at the back of the pressure plate I of the iron and its other crank I5 is connected to a crank arm I6, by means of a horizontal coupling link I1. :The crank arm I6 forms part of a transverse portion connecting the two supporting legs 3. These legs reside one on each side of the iron on the outside of the casing I8 and the sole plate 2, said transverse portion forming the pivot forv said legs, and a slot I9 in the upper surface of the pressure plate I the bearing for such pivot. By the means thus described depression of the rear or free end of the handle portion 5 turns the legs 3V upwards to the dotted line position shown in Fig. 1. For the purpose of the present invention it is necessary that these legs shall beheld automatically in this raised position whilst the iron is in use and the means for this purpose whichl is illustrated in Fig. 1 consists of a blade spring '20 which is secured at its lower end to the upper surface of the casing I8 and extends upwards between the connecting member II and the stirrup upright 9 with its upper end 2I contacting the opposing face of the connecting member with a pressure sufcient to hold the supporting legs in the raised position.

To lower the legs the operator lifts the iron by the movable portion only of the handle with the result that the weight of the lower part of the iron overcomes the frictional resistance of the blade spring 20 and in dropping pulls the supporting legs round to the supporting position shown in full lines in Fig. 1.

To prevent the leg 3 from fouling the side of the sole plate 2 as a result of excessive lateral movement, such excessive movement is checked by arranging that the coupling link I6 shall move within a longitudinal slot 22 in the upper surface of `the pressure plate, saidv slot being narrow enough to constrain the link from undue lateral movement.

In the embodiment illustrated in Figs. 3 and 4 I the whole of the mechanism for raising and lower'- ing the supporting legs and the means for holding the same frictionally in the raised position is disposed on top of the casing I8 and such mechanism and means comprises a bell crank lever comprised of two parallel side plates 23 which are mounted to pivot about a pin 24 carried by a fixed bracket 25 having a bent foot 26 by means of which it is bolted to the upper face of the stirrup 4 by one of its holding bolts 21. The

upper corner of this bell crank lever is connected to opposite ends of a crank 28 on the transverse pivot portion of the supporting legs by means of a pair of laterally spaced connecting links 29.

The means for holding the supporting legs frictionally in the raised position consists of a fiat blade spring 30 one end of which is secured or anchored by the forward stirrup retaining bolt SI with the opposite or free end pressing down upon the crank 28 between the connecting links 29.

The member comprising the supporting leg 3 is pivotally mounted upon a stamped metal bedplate 32 which is affixed to the upper surface of the casing I8 by the securing bolts 27 and 3|. The supporting legs in this example are raised and lowered as in the previous example.

In lieu of the blade spring A3b in Figs. 3 and 4 a coil spring may be used. This alternative is illustrated in Fig. 5 where the coil spring, indicated by the numeral 33, is shown as being anchored at one end by the securing bolt 3I with the other end attached to the crank 28 intermediate the two connecting links 29. The tension of this spring 33 must of course be suiciently light so as to be overcome by the weight of the iron when the same is lifted by the movable portion 5 of the handle.

In a further alternative friction holding means, that is applicable to the embodiment illustrated in Fig. 1 a spring pressed ball detent may be used. Such an alternative is illustrated in Fig. 6 where 34 is the spring pressed ball detent. This is shown as being enclosed in a tubular casing 35 that is sunk into the rear end of the fixed handle portion 6. The ball is adapted to be engaged by a depression, hole or the like in the length of the connecting member II.

What I claim is:

1. A hand iron comprising a main body; a stirrup rigidly xed thereto; a first handle portion rigidly xed to said stirrup; a second handle portion pivoted to one upright branch of said stirrup, said second handle part being movable with respect to said rst one between an adjacent and a spaced positioned relationship by effect of the weight of said main body, stirrup, and rst handle portion, when the iron is suspended by said second handle portion; a link member pivoted to said second handle portion and movable therewith with respect to said main body; a first crank shaft journalled in said main body and rocked by the motion of said link member between two extreme positions corresponding to said adjacent and spaced positioned relationship of said second handle portion with respect to said i'lrst handle portion; a second crankshaft journalled in said main body and carrying support extensions, said second` crankshaft being rockable between two eXtreme positions of said support extensions, a lowered operative and a raised inoperative position; link means connecting said rst and second crankshafts whereby the rocking motion is transmitted from the former to the latter; and spring means secured to said stirrup and frictionally engaging said link member, whereby sufici-ent resistance is created to the motion of said link member to prevent the same from occurring by effect only of the moment of said support extensions and crankshafts about their journals.

2. A hand iron comprising a main body; a stirrup rigidly fixed thereto; a rst handle portion rigidly xed to said stirrup; a second handle portion pivoted to one upright branch of said stirrup, said second handle part being movable with respect to said rst one between an adjacent and a spaced positioned relationship by effect of the w eight of said main body, stirrup, and first handle portion, when the iron is suspended .by said second handle portion; a link member pivoted to said second handle portion and movable therewith with respect to said main body; a rst crankshaft journalled in said main body and rocked by the motion of said link member between two extreme positions corresponding to said adjacent and spaced positioned relationship of said second handle portion with respect to said rst handle portion; a second crankshaft journalled in said main body and carrying support extensions, said second crankshaft being rockable between two extreme positions of said support extensions, n lowered operative and a raised inoperative position; link means connecting said rst and second crankshafts whereby the rocking motion is transmitted from the former to the latter, said link means being housed in slots in said main body to control the lateral displacement of the same and thereby of both aforementioned crankshafts and of said support extensions; and spring means secured to said stirrup and frictionally engaging said link member, whereby sulcient resistance is created to the motion of said link memberto prevent the same from occuring by eiect only of the moment of said support extensions and crankshafts about their journals.

3. A lat iron according to claim 1, wherein the relative position of the center of gravity of the iron and the center of the support extensions is such that when these latter are in their extreme operative position the weight of the iron and the support reaction give rise to a couple which tends to force said support extensions further towards and beyond said extreme operative position.

HELEN CRAIG DAVIS.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the le of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 1,564,517 Brolin Dec. 8, 1925 1,694,688 Pandolfo Dec. 11, 1928 2,036,504 Sarringar Apr. 7, 1936 2,149,251 Campana Mar. 7, 1939 2,203,276 Davis June 4, 1940 2,224,896 Burian Dec. 17, 1940 

